Tank



Feb. 5, 1929. 1,700,887

c. GLASS TANK Filed April '7, 19 24 TOR BY M

A TTOIRNE V which PatentedFeb. 5, 19 29.

g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, cnmron lanes, or mmsas crry, :nnssounr.

I mm. n ucation'med April 7, 1924. Serial No. rupee.

.This invention relates to oil tanks such as are used for storing oil in the oil fields. It relates primarily to a floating deck or cover to rest or float uponthe surface of the oil so as '5- to close off atmospheric air from contact with 1 the oil and thereby prevent evaporation of the lighter hydrocarbon constituents of the oil. The cover will be hereinafter referred to as a floating deck to conform to the nomenclature of theoil industry.

Floating deck have been provided prior to my invention, but my invention consists in providing a deck formed from fabric supported upon floats, preferably made of lumher and fastened thereto, the advantage .be-

ing that the deck can be shipped in a knock down compact manner and it can readily be set up in the old fields without requiringspecial tools or equipment. The novel construction of the invention will be referred to hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in Fi 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a tank with which-my invention is associated. I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the deck showing the construction for. the accommos dation of a swing pipe, and 80 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a slightly modified form of deck.

The tank is shown as consisting of a 'verti-. cal wall 1, a bottom 2, and a roof 3. The roof may be of relativel light construction, since u it need not be air tight but it should be of such construction that it will shed snow, rain and "the like. The roof is shown as supported upon vertical posts or stanchions 4 in the upfi per ends of Y the tank'and the edges of the deck may be notched *at 11 to clear the uprights 12.

5o The fabric of the v deck is shown as prof vided with a slit13 reenforced by braces 14 and 15 to, permit the cable 16. for the swing pipe 17 to pass throu h as, will be clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 2. e'small surface of the oilwhich which are rafters 5 uponwhich m the roof rests. The roof has a gau e hole or including a circumferential skirt, and a cover exposed to atmosphere by,

reason of the slit will not be appreciable so practically no evaporation will take place on account of the exposed surface of the oil through the slit. The fabric of the deck is provided with a plurality of openings 18 to permit the uprights to extend through the fabric, the openings 18 bein reenforced by bracing members 19. The abric may consist of any suitable material which will not be readily attacked by petroleum or petroleum derivatives and inasmuch as I am able to buy such fabric on the open market, I do not make any special claim for the fabric itself, the in-. vention consisting rather in the ada tation of a suitable fabric to a relatively light supporting frame so as to close off communica tion between the oil in the tank and atmosphere and thus eliminate liability of evaporation losses.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a slightly modified form of deck in which the floats 20 illustrated as lumber, rectangular in cross section are provided with a to fabric 21 and a lower fabric 22 to make a ox-like float or deck, the edges of the fabrics 21 and 22 being secured to the edge of the lumber structure by overlapping t i opening 26 in line with the gauge hole 6 so that the gauger may have access to the oil within the tank.

. Y on What I claim and desire to secure by Let- "ters-Patent is 1. In combination with an oil tank, a floatable deck comprising an open floatable frame cured to one of the surfaces. of the frame for support thereby.

. 3. In a deck for oil tanks, an open framework comprising beam-like members for floating on contents of the tank, laterally spaced floatable members connected with the frame and de g an opening, and'a fabric cover secured to theupper surface of the no frame and to said floatable members for suport thereby and having an opening registermg with sa1d first named opening.

4. In combination with a liquid-containing 5 tank, a flexible cover substantially co-extensive with the cross section of the tank and having an opening, and a frame for supporting the cover from the liquid comprising laterall spaced beams adapted to float on the liquid, and beam-like members secured to said 10 cover and defining s'aidopening and ada ted to float on the liquid for supporting the e ges of the cover adjacent said 0 ening.

In testimony whereof I a my signature.

CLIFTON A. GLASS. 

